A Slow Year Limited Edition Available

The limited edition of Ian Bogost's A Slow Year is available, for you pointy-headed gamers out there.

A Slow Yearis a series of four meditative Atari 2600 games about "the experience of observing things." Each game is designed to require a different kind of sedate observation and methodical input, as opposed to fast reflexes and murderous instincts. It's how games might look in a universe where people were quiet, thoughtful creatures with love in their hearts.

I think you need this in your life.

According to Bogost's blog, A Slow Year uses the constraints of the 2600 in an attempt to "embrace maximum expressive constraint and representational condensation," but the game comes with an expansive 152 page book of essays about the commonalities between video games and poetry and 1,024 machined haiku—poetry generated by computer—8 bits worth for each season.

A Slow Year, is as availabe in a paperback version with software for PC and Mac in a custom Atari emulator for an amazingly cheap $19.95, but the limited edition is where it's at. The the limited edition is numbered, signed, and contains both real Atari 2600 cartridges and a leatherbound hardcover book. Contact Ian Bogost if you'd like the fancy edition.